Sting – I Hung My Head

Gordon Sumner wrote the main songs and played bass in The Police, under the moniker Sting, but left the band to become a solo act just as they’d become the biggest act on the planet. Sting was the writer of all the bands hits and of their enduring and distinctive sound via his oddly bleating tenor, so he was well placed to continue as a successful artist in his own right. Sting took the basics of The Police sound and applied some of his jazz leanings to provide a sophisticated and potent brew that did well on the charts via the first, brilliant solo albums, Dream of the Blue Turtles and …Nothing Like The Sun. Sting had found a way to meld a straightforward pop sensibility, gleaned from coming to prominence during the punk era, with a fierce musicality more akin to the fusion bands he’d played in as a younger man.

Musically speaking….

It’s storytelling of a high calibre, worthy of Hank Williams and matched with a simple and memorable folk tune in Bb major. The chords move between 1 and 4 (Bb Eb), then minor 6 and 4 (Gm Eb) before shifting to a minor 2 and 5 (with 3^rd in the bass) through the transition (Cm F/A) before returning to the tonic (Bb). Sting propels the narrative with a devastating passage, where the shooter is addressed by the Judge; “Explain to the courtroom, what went through your mind and we’ll ask the jury, what verdict they find” I said “I felt the power, of death over life, I orphaned his children, I widowed his wife, I beg their forgiveness, I wish I was dead”

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This is an excerpt from Michael’s 33 Great Songs 33 Great Songwriters book available everywhere eBooks are sold.